Retirement village reform for Qld seniors

Retirement village reforms are high on the agenda for Queensland's Labor government which has vowed to clean up costly, complex and "sneaky" contracts befuddling the state's seniors.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has declared proposed new laws will be introduced immediately into state parliament with a view to having the legislation passed by year's end.

Among the changes would be simplified contracts, fees and charges declared up-front, fairer exit fees and enforceable behaviour standards for village operators.

The proposed laws come after an 18-month consultation, which coincided with a Four Corners and Fairfax Media investigation revealing exorbitant fees and complex contracts at retirement village company Aveo.

Housing Minister Mick de Brenni said the changes would "end the retirement village rip-off".

"Seniors across Queensland have been struggling to understand the contracts they sign when they enter a retirement village," he said. "Some of them are 400 pages thick."

But the Liberal National Party have accused the government of reviewing rather than implementing reforms - conducted when they were last in government - that were about to be rolled out just prior to the 2015 election.